Source: Daily_Mail
Howard Webb admits World Cup final mistake over Nigel de Jong's kung-fu kick
England's World Cup referee Howard Webb has admitted that he should have sent off Manchester City's Nigel de Jong in the final in Johannesburg. [LNB]Webb was criticised for not sending off Dutch midfielder De Jong for a first-half challenge on Spain's Xabi Alonso. [LNB]Webb produced 14 yellow cards, including two for Dutchman JohnnyHeitinga, as Spain beat the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time in abad-tempered contest.[LNB] Shocking: Nigel De Jong's now infamous tackle on Xabi Alonso[LNB]Webb and his English assistants, Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey, were criticised for their handling of the Johannesburg game, but Webb said he looked back on his performance with pride.[LNB]As he prepared to return to Barclays Premier League duty onSeptember 11, Webb revealed that he has received hundreds of messagesof support. [LNB]Man in the middle: Referee Howard Webb was in charge of the World Cup final[LNB]Discussing his display, he said: ''We wanted to be a steady hand but equally we wanted to do our job properly, and if there was a clear red card we would do it,' Webb said.[LNB]'When I look back on the full two hours of that game, which of course I have, there is not much I would change. One of the things I would change is the colour of the card for de Jong's tackle.[LNB]'Having seen it again from my armchair several times in slow motion and from different angles, I can see that it was a red-card offence. But at the time the decision not to red-card him was not based on me not wanting to send someone off in the World Cup final, it was based on the viewing angle I had.[LNB]'What I couldn't see was the actual contact on Alonso through the back of Alonso with (Mark) van Bommel just to his right - the view was obstructed somewhat.[LNB]'I could see the foot was high and from Alonso's reaction there must have been some contact, even though I couldn't see the contact, and being 25 minutes into a World Cup final I wasn't prepared to guess. I wasn't prepared to fill in the blanks in my head to say that was possibly a red-card offence.[LNB]'I wanted to base it on what we could see, so therefore I decided to show a yellow card.'[LNB] Is it EVER acceptable to play like Holland did against Spain?Ex-ref Hackett hails underfire Webb's controversial World Cup final displayEngland's 2018 bid: A nation united in pursuit of FIFA's biggest prizeSunderland boss Bruce drags in Webb to offer advice to red card offenders [LNB]
